Derek's Law of Valentine's Day
by jeytonlover
Summary: Murphy's Law says, "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Unfortunately for Derek, it couldn't come at a worse time. Dasey of course, I wouldn't know how to write anything else.


**So I know it's not Chapter 7 of "Moments in our Lives" but I really wanted to do a Valentine's Day one shot. This is actually a prompt I submitted for a flashfic and the writer chose not to use this one, so I'm claiming it again. Of course, go ahead, tell me how OoC Derek is; I don't care. In my twisted little Dasey world, this Derek exists, because Casey would totally have this affect on him!**

**Have a wonderful Valentine's Day and here is my equivalent of cyber chocolates to you!**

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It had taken him weeks to convince her that this could be a good thing. For every reason he could come up with for them to give it a try she had countered with an observation of how it could go down in flames. 

But his perseverance had paid off and he had finally worn her down. She had agreed to go out with him once and try it. That being said, she had chosen Valentine's Day as the date and now he could feel the pressure coming down around him. He knew she would expect nothing less than perfection and for a screw up like him, well that was basically a license to fail.

They had agreed to the cover of a party thrown by a mutual friend as to not draw suspicion to themselves. There was enough pressure already, without the scrutiny of the prying eyes of their family.

He was pleased to know that she had gone to get her hair and nails done and took this as a good sign that tonight was important to her too. Knowing that she wouldn't be home from the salon yet, he had actually rushed home after practice and placed a bouquet of spring flowers in her room, knowing that she thought red roses on Valentine's Day was cliché.

Taking one more look in the mirror he sighed and thought, 'here we go'.

Walking out of his room he moved to her door and saw the bouquet of flowers sitting outside her room on the ground. A wave a panic shot through him as he wondered if this was her way of telling him she thought this was a bad idea and she didn't want to go anymore. He was about to retreat back to his room to think the situation over when her door began to open and there she stood, looking beautiful. Everything about her was perfect, from her hair and makeup, to her little black dress and red stilettos.

She gave him a shy smile and asked, "Ready?"

He shook his head and then had to ask, "Didn't you like the flowers?"

"Oh no, they were beautiful. But there must have been something in them that I'm allergic too because I couldn't stop sneezing when they were in the room and I didn't want to ruin my makeup."

"I'm sorry. Really I didn't know." He was deathly afraid that she was going to think that this was some elaborate prank he was pulling on her. Was he supposed to know she was allergic to them?

"Really, it's okay. They were beautiful and it's the thought that counts, right?"

"Yah, I guess," he said a little dejectedly.

"Hey, come on. Let's go. I can't wait to see what you have planned."

The sound of excitement in her voice lifted his spirits and he put his hand on the small of her back as they walked downstairs.

Nora and George looked up as the two reached the bottom.

"Well, don't you two look nice? This must be some kind of party to be this dressed up," Nora said with a smile.

"Yeah, it is," Derek said casually.

"Well, have fun and be home by curfew," George said in between bites of popcorn.

"No problem," Derek said as he led Casey out the door.

Walking a few steps ahead of her he opened her door and helped her in. Rushing around, he slid under the steering wheel and turned the key. Nothing, not one thing happened. He looked over at Casey with a nervous smile and tried it again, but still nothing happened.

"Uh," he began.

"It's okay," she said reassuringly. "Just go in and ask your dad if we can use one of their cars. I'm sure they won't care."

Derek nodded and rushed towards the house. Five minutes later he returned with the keys to his dad's car and opened the door and helped Casey out of the Prince.

Finally they were backing out of the driveway and headed toward the restaurant.

He tried to think of interesting things to talk about but surprisingly for two people who lived together and went to school together the talk didn't come that easy.

He kept telling himself to relax. After all, he was Derek Venturi and he knew that there were at least fifty girls in the school who would love to be in Casey's place tonight. But he also knew that none of those girls could hold a candle to Casey and that made the pressure huge. Casey expected perfection in every aspect of her life. And after the Ivanhoe thing, he knew that she especially expected it from a guy.

Pulling up at the restaurant he smiled as he saw her eyes light up. He knew this was her favorite place to eat. And he also knew that she probably thought they would be going to Smelly Nelly's or someplace like that. But he had made reservations here over two weeks ago in the hopes that he would be able to convince her to give him a chance.

Walking around, he opened her door and took her hand as they walked in.

The maitre'd looked up and asked, "Do you have reservations?"

Clearing his throat he tried to sound as grown up as possible. "Yes, I had a table for two under the name Venturi."

The maitre'd ran his finger down the list and stopped. "Ah yes, right this way," he said as he picked up two menus and motioned for them to follow him.

They were seated and told that their waiter would be right with them.

Casey looked up from her menu, "Derek, you didn't have to do this. I know how expensive this place is. I would have been fine with whatever."

Derek gave her grin. "No, I've got one chance to impress you so I'm going all out. I've already tried to send you into an allergic reaction and almost made us late with my piece of crap car. You definitely deserve this."

She smiled back at his sweetly. "Well, this is wonderful, really. Thank you."

They passed the time with small talk and soon the waiter was bringing back their appetizer.

"Mmm, this looks wonderful," Casey said.

Derek moved to pick up his napkin and in the motion somehow managed to tip his water glass over, sending it straight towards Casey's lap.

Casey gasped as she felt the cold water hit her legs.

Derek groaned and threw his head back. How in the world could things get any worse? Hopping up he walked over and pulled her chair out and helped her up. He was at least relieved to see that it mostly had spilled down her legs and had only gotten the end of her short black dress.

"I'm so sorry Casey. I really didn't mean to do that."

Casey smiled back at him. "It's okay really. But I think I might have to start calling you Klutzilla now," she said teasingly.

Derek tried to put a brave face on but inwardly he was dyeing inside.

The waiter came and cleaned up the mess and the rest of the dinner was actually pleasant. Though he probably kept apologizing way too much since she eventually told him it was fine and she didn't want to hear another word about it.

Finally the waiter had came and brought their check and told him that he would be back shortly to collect. Derek reached into his back pocket and shear terror ran through him. Next he checked the other pocket and then his front pockets, but still no wallet.

Playing earlier events through his head he was horrified to remember that his wallet was sitting in his car. In the chaos of switching vehicles he had forgotten to grab it. He was beside himself by this point and all he could do at the moment was just place his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands.

"Derek, are you okay? What's wrong," Casey asked in a concerned voice.

Looking up he knew he must have been white as a sheet and he would count it a small victory and a miracle in itself if he didn't throw up right then and there. Biting the bullet he told her, "I left my wallet in my car."

"Oh," she said.

'Oh' was such a small word but to Derek it was huge and held so much meaning.

"Well, I have my purse. I don't mind paying for it. Otherwise, we'll have to wait for Mom or George to come down here and as busy as they are tonight I don't think they want people hanging around any longer than they have too. Besides, they think we're at a party."

Derek groaned and threw his head back in disgust. "I'm really sorry Case. I can't believe I did that."

"Really it's okay. But are you sure you're not trying to sabotage this evening," she asked teasingly.

At her comment he sat up straight in his chair. "No, I swear I'm not. It's just kind of one of those Murray's Law days."

"Murphy's Law," she corrected him.

"What?"

"It's called Murphy's Law not Murray's Law. You know, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

"Yeah, trust me, I know."

"No problem," she said as she reached in her purse and took some money out. Picking up the check she raised her eyebrows when she saw the total. "Are you sure you're worth this," she asked teasingly.

"Probably not," he said dejectedly.

After paying and leaving the restaurant, they were back in the car.

Derek couldn't help but hit the steering wheel hard with his hands when he got in.

Casey jumped at the act and Derek immediately began apologizing. 'I'm sorry, I'm just mad at myself. I had tickets to the ballet but they're in my wallet too. And by the time we drive all the way over to the house and get them we wouldn't have to time to get there. The theater is all the way over on the other side of town."

"Listen, its okay, really. It's the thought that counts right?"

"Yeah, right," he said as he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

As they drove home, they passed a small carnival that had pulled into town.

"Would you like to go there," Derek asked, with not much conviction. He was fully prepared for a resounding 'no thanks, but I think I've had enough fun for one night'.

But shockingly she said, "Sure why not? But it's kind of chilly outside and I forgot my coat."

"No problem, you can wear my leather jacket. Let's just go back home and let me grab my wallet out of the car. The least I can do is pay for something tonight."

Soon they were pulling up at the carnival. Derek helped her out of the car and she slid into his jacket. Derek felt immediate chills run through him and it had nothing to do with the crisp wind. The jacket almost completely covered her past the bottom of her dress and Derek was sure that he had absolutely never seen anything sexier in his life.

Derek walked up to a vendor and bought a cotton candy for them to share and they headed toward the game section.

Derek wasn't paying attention to the fact that Casey had her head turned away from him as he thrust the cotton candy toward her, "Here, hold this while I…"

Stopping he realized the gooey pink concoction was now firmly planted in her hair. Casey gasped as he pulled it away from her hair. There was still plenty of pink cotton candy attached to her highly hairsprayed hair and Derek groaned again for what seemed like the millionth time that night.

"Oh my gosh, Casey, I didn't know you weren't looking. I just wanted you to hold this while I tried to win you a stuffed animal."

Casey tried to smile reassuringly at him, but her attempt failed miserably. "It's okay really," she managed to get out. "I guess I should have been paying more attention."

"No really, it's my fault," he said as he tried to remove as much of it from her hair as possible.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just get in the shower when I get home. It'll wash out."

"Do you just want to go home now?" He couldn't imagine her wanting to stay so he was amazingly surprised to hear her reply.

"No really, I'm fine. I thought you were going to win me something?"

"I am, just let me throw this away first," he said as he walked over to the nearest trashcan.

Somehow, somewhere, the gods decided to shine on him for once that night and he won her a huge stuffed bear on his first try. After choosing the one she wanted they headed toward the ride section.

"Come on Case; let's ride the tilt-a-whirl. I've always loved that ride," he said as he dragged her toward the ticket booth.

"I don't know Derek; I'm not much on things that go around and around. They make me kind of sick."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun."

She looked at him with a great amount of doubt in her eyes, but still she allowed him to lead her toward the ride.

Once securely strapped in, the ride began and Casey immediately knew that her first assumption was correct. These kinds of rides definitely made her sick. She only hoped that she could make it off before she threw up, otherwise they would both be wearing it and she didn't think her poor body could take much more after the ice water and the cotton candy.

After what seemed like an eternity it finally slowed to a stop and before Derek could help her she rushed off and to the side and began to empty her stomach. She felt a strong hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him after she was finished.

"I warned you these things and I don't mix well," she said trying to sound light hearted.

The funny thing was, if there was anything funny about it at all, that Derek actually looked sicker than she felt. Clutching the stuffed bear tightly in his hands the only thing he said was, "I think we should probably head home."

The ride was eerily quiet all the way. Casey tried to start a conversation up once, but Derek gave her a short answer and didn't offer up any hope that he really wanted to continue it.

Once at home, he came around and opened her door and they walked slowly up the steps. Turning to her, he smiled a sad, pitiful smile and said, "I'm really sorry about tonight. I guess you were right, huh?" And with that he walked through the door and headed up the stairs.

Once upstairs in his room, he realized he was still clutching the bear and threw it across the room where it landed in a heap in the corner. Changing out of the dress clothes he put on pajama pants and a t-shirt and lay down on his bed.

He heard someone enter the bathroom and the shower turned on. He knew that Casey was probably trying to get the goo out of her hair, not to mention washing off the sick feeling she had from their night of hell.

How could something that had been so thought out and well planned go to hell in a hand basket so quickly? He had planned and played out this night in his head so many times and each time it had ended nothing like this. In his imagination it had always ended with a mind blowing kiss and Casey's confession that he had been right all along. That this was a good thing between them and that yes it could work.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a slight knock on his door.

Sitting up and trying to compose himself he said, "Come in."

Casey walked in looking all fresh with her face scrubbed clean and her hair still damp from the shower. He was sure that her teeth were newly brushed and flossed to try and erase the sickening taste that had been there earlier.

She just stood there and finally Derek asked, "Did you want something? Maybe to tell me you told me so. That there was no way that this was a good idea and that it could never work?"

He saw her eyes cloud over. "No, I just came to get my bear," she said motioning over to the discarded animal in the corner. But instead of walking to pick it up she walked over to the bed and sat down by him. "But is that how you feel?"

"Of course, that's not how I feel. But you've been telling me for several months how this wouldn't work, I just figured you couldn't resist an 'I told you so'."

Moving closer she placed a hand on top of one of his. "Actually, if I were going to tell you anything, it would go something like this. Derek, I can't believe all the trouble you went to in trying to give me my dream date. You bought me flowers, and took me to my favorite restaurant. You bought tickets to the ballet and I know how much you hate the ballet and then you won me that really cute bear, and on the first try I might add," she said trying to stroke his ego a little. She knew that it was desperately bruised at the moment.

Looking down at where her hand cover his, he moved his other hand on top of hers. "You really think that," he asked hopefully.

She smiled and nodded in affirmation. "I really do. No guy has ever gone out of his way for me like that. I'm sorry that it didn't go exactly like you planned but I know that everything you did tonight was sincere."

Moving closer, he lifted his hand and placed the damp hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. "It really was Casey. I had this whole thing planned out in my head and then nothing went right. Not one thing from beginning to end was like I wanted it to be."

"Well, I know how it was supposed to begin but the ending, you kind of stopped the evening abruptly when you left me standing on the porch. So that's not how you pictured it in your head?"

"Not quite," he said the irony showing in his face and his voice.

"Well you know," she said scooting even closer, "the night's not over yet." And then leaning in until her lips were almost touching his, she whispered, "I'd really like to know what your ending would have been like."

Derek moved to place his hand on the back of her head and drew her the rest of the way to him. Their lips met and melded together perfectly, just as he had imagined they would. Slowly lying down, he brought her with him, their lips never breaking contact.

Finally pulling his lips away from her he trailed sweet kisses up her neck until his lips reached her ear. Tugging at it slightly she felt shivers run completely through her body as she felt his warm breath tickle her ear as he whispered, "This is my perfect ending."

Moving away she captured his lips with her own and then proceeded to reciprocate the favor as she trailed kisses along his jaw until she reached the proper destination. And this time it was his turn to feel the wonderful feeling of electricity shoot through him as she whispered back, "I think you were right. This could definitely be a good thing."

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**All right, all opinions are accepted. What do you think?**


End file.
